Problems with my Green Island (Ficus Microcarpa) - yellowing leaves & pests

[flchriso]

I have a Green Island Bonsai (Ficus Microcarpa) that was gifted to me at the end of November. I am unsure of the age of the bonsai, but its pot measures 9.25” x 6.5” at the top.

Here is a picture of it when I first got it:


I live in SE Florida and the plant is out on a balcony where it gets sun in the mornings. Per the advice that was given by the man who sold it I was watering every couple days using a spray can. The water wouldn’t necessarily always drain through, but the plant was happy and fine.

Toward the end of march though, its leaves began to yellow and fall off. I did a bit of research and noticed after reading from various sources that said the yellowing was a sign of over or under watering, I changed my watering schedule to adapt more to what I was reading. I now water every 4-5 days making sure it drains through the bottom. At this time I also used Osmocote which the seller had given me and instructed me to use every few months. This seemed to help at first. The bonsai started to sprout new growth, and the yellowing stopped.

Here is a picture taken towards the end of March when it first was yellowing:


But within the last 2ish weeks there was some yellowing of a few of the leaves. And within the last few days it got really bad on one branch. All the sprouts/buds on that branch began to die and all the leaves yellowed and are falling off. Because of the lack of foliage when I was looking closely at the plant this weekend there appear to be spider mites. I saw maybe 1/2 a dozen greyish bugs and very fine webs. I tried to get a picture, but it was hard to focus because they are small and moving. I sprayed the plant with Bee Safe, but this morning the one branch is looking worse and I am starting to worry.

Here are some pictures of the current state of the plant and that picture of the bug:





Any guidance would be much appreciated!

 

[misfit11]

Watering was my first guess but seeing the amount of Osmocote on the surface of that soil gives me real concern. I use Osmocote on my trees and am plenty happy with it's performance (I know some people on here disagree) but I use far less than what I see here. Too much fertilizer can actually chemically "burn" the roots. Look at the recommendations on the back of the container for how much to use per surface area. I'd remove at least half of those pellets if not 2/3's immediately.

Secondly, what is the soil like? Is it the Lava rock and other inorganic soil that we see on the surface all the way through? Or is it basically potting soil underneath that? If so, stick a wooden chop stick in the soil and only water when it starts to look dry.

Hope that helps.

 

[Colorado]

Watering every 4-5 DAYS?! Obviously it depends on your soil substrate but I would think more water would be beneficial.

I live in a totally different climate but I water my ficus 2-3 times a day in the summer. Again, totally different climate but I view ficus as fairly heavy water consumers.

 

[flchriso]

Watering was my first guess but seeing the amount of Osmocote on the surface of that soil gives me real concern. I use Osmocote on my trees and am plenty happy with it's performance (I know some people on here disagree) but I use far less than what I see here. Too much fertilizer can actually chemically "burn" the roots. Look at the recommendations on the back of the container for how much to use per surface area. I'd remove at least half of those pellets if not 2/3's immediately.

Secondly, what is the soil like? Is it the Lava rock and other inorganic soil that we see on the surface all the way through? Or is it basically potting soil underneath that? If so, stick a wooden chop stick in the soil and only water when it starts to look dry.

Hope that helps.

I do not believe that there is any soil in the pot, it appears to only be lava rocks and inorganic materials.

The Osmocote that I am using was given to me with the tree in a small Tupperware and they directed 3 TBS per 4 sqft every few months. I hadn’t used any since I got it in November so in March it was the first time I had given any. I looked online for a resource on how much to use and found the following usage guide table on a bonsai website: Pot Size - How Much Osmocote to use - Small (e.g. 4″ diameter) 2-3 teaspoons; Medium (e.g. 12″diameter); Large (> 12″ diameter)4-8 tablespoons. I thought I wrote it down but I think I used ~1 or 2 TBS which in retrospect doing the math based on 3TBS/ 4sqft I should have probably used 3/4 TBS?

 

[flchriso]

Watering every 4-5 DAYS?! Obviously it depends on your soil substrate but I would think more water would be beneficial.

I live in a totally different climate but I water my ficus 2-3 times a day in the summer. Again, totally different climate but I view ficus as fairly heavy water consumers.

Sorry, in March when the leaves started to yellow I started to second guess everything. When I was reading online about Green Islands specifically and their care multiple sources online stated watering every 4-5 days, perhaps they were using soil, or other substrate, or were just plain wrong, but I had a 50% shot as to whether I was over or under watering and since I was watering every other day I felt like I was definitely overwatering given that I live in a humid environment. This appears to not be the case and it seems like I am underwatering… So would going back to watering every other day be enough? (And removing a bunch of the fertilizer as well).

 

[misfit11]

Okay. With completely inorganic soil, you can water (and probably need to living in Florida) every single day on warm days. Does the water run straight through when you water it? If so, then it's most likely well-draining good soil.

So they recommended 3 Tbs/ 4 sq ft and you put on 1 or 2 Tbs? Waaaayyyy too much. Yes I think 3/4 Tbs would have been on the generous side for this small pot. Get it off of there ASAP. And if as I said before that the soil is well drained, I recommend running water through it thoroughly after removing the pellets. This will help flush all the excess fertilizer out.

 

[flchriso]

Okay. With completely inorganic soil, you can water (and probably need to living in Florida) every single day on warm days. Does the water run straight through when you water it? If so, then it's most likely well-draining good soil.

So they recommended 3 Tbs/ 4 sq ft and you put on 1 or 2 Tbs? Waaaayyyy too much. Yes I think 3/4 Tbs would have been on the generous side for this small pot. Get it off of there ASAP. And if as I said before that the soil is well drained, I recommend running water through it thoroughly after removing the pellets. This will help flush all the excess fertilizer out.

Yeah… I definitely messed up and put too much Osmocote... I just got done removing basically everything you can see in the pics. While rooting around in there to pick up all the pellets, I did notice that there is at least some soil, especially near the trunk. As I said in my original post, I water it using a sprayer so I can be even and just thoroughly soak it. It takes probably about 1 minute or so for the water to drain through. So the soil seems to drain well. Does your recommendation for running water through it change given that it is not 100% inorganic materials and some soil in there?

After that I will move back to watering it once every other day like I originally had. Would you reckon that the yellowing in march was under watering then?

 

[penumbra]

I don't need to read this thread completely through to tell you that your ficus was simple shedding its oldest leaves, and right on schedule too. You can expect it to do the same every year. I have several dozen ficus and they all do it, but on the Green Island it is quite pronounced. Also would like to add that if the ficus is in a free draining porous mix, you can water it every day without harm.

 

[penumbra]

Have no idea why the lower limb in later pictures is dead. Its possibly a root issue.

 

[misfit11]

If it takes a full minute for the water to drain through, it's probably has quite a bit of dense organic soil. Water would most likely run straight through a pot that size with inorganic soil with no delay. I'd definitely stick a chopstick in there and pull it out daily to see if it's moist. Only water as it starts to dry out, rather than on some kind of schedule.

 

[flchriso]

I don't need to read this thread completely through to tell you that your ficus was simple shedding its oldest leaves, and right on schedule too. You can expect it to do the same every year. I have several dozen ficus and they all do it, but on the Green Island it is quite pronounced. Also would like to add that if the ficus is in a free draining porous mix, you can water it every day without harm.

Thanks, when doing some research I had read that they shed leaves during the winter, but at that point I think I was already in my own head. Yesterday after picking out the osmocote, watering it/ really paying attention and misfit11's comments I do think I overestimated the amount of lava rocks and inorganic materials that are in there and I believe there is more soil than I had originally thought.

 

[penumbra]

Thanks, when doing some research I had read that they shed leaves during the winter, but at that point I think I was already in my own head. Yesterday after picking out the osmocote, watering it/ really paying attention and misfit11's comments I do think I overestimated the amount of lava rocks and inorganic materials that are in there and I believe there is more soil than I had originally thought.

They shed a bit during winter for sure but the heaviest leaf drop is spring when the new leaves come in.
This is strictly observation. You will experience this too.

 

[flchriso]

If it takes a full minute for the water to drain through, it's probably has quite a bit of dense organic soil. Water would most likely run straight through a pot that size with inorganic soil with no delay. I'd definitely stick a chopstick in there and pull it out daily to see if it's moist. Only water as it starts to dry out, rather than on some kind of schedule.

Thanks so much for all the help! I will definitely do the chopstick method and water on an as needed basis from here on out, and be much less liberal with the osmocote Hopefully that lower limb won't completely bite it...

 

[flchriso]

They shed a bit during winter for sure but the heaviest leaf drop is spring when the new leaves come in.
This is strictly observation. You will experience this too.

Good to know thanks, I think I was worried that it was happening so "late".

 

[Colorado]

Thanks so much for all the help! I will definitely do the chopstick method and water on an as needed basis from here on out, and be much less liberal with the osmocote Hopefully that lower limb won't completely bite it...

Why not just repot it into good substrate? Seems a much easier solution than trying to guess how to water it in crap soil. Just my 2 cents!

 

[MHBonsai]

Agreed with others, your problem looks like it's in the roots. A gentle repot into fresh soil and some easy ferts will help it rebound.

Your dead branch looks like it has some green growth tips. That's a great sign it will rebound. Gotta get the roots right first.

 

[flchriso]

Why not just repot it into good substrate? Seems a much easier solution than trying to guess how to water it in crap soil. Just my 2 cents!

Sorry notifications emails were going to junk. Any favorite substrates you would recommend?

 

[flchriso]

Agreed with others, your problem looks like it's in the roots. A gentle repot into fresh soil and some easy ferts will help it rebound.

Your dead branch looks like it has some green growth tips. That's a great sign it will rebound. Gotta get the roots right first.

Sorry just seeing this now. Is there any soil or fert you’d recommend I look into?

 

[Kullas]

Bonsai jack i think is a widely used commercial soil. I use turface, saf t sorb and some sifted pine bark between 3 and 6 mm.
By the way soil is a hot topic around here. Ask 10 different bonsai enthusiasts and you will get 12 different answers and a it all depends

 

[flchriso]

Bonsai jack i think is a widely used commercial soil. I use turface, saf t sorb and some sifted pine bark between 3 and 6 mm.
By the way soil is a hot topic around here. Ask 10 different bonsai enthusiasts and you will get 12 different answers and a it all depends

I figured that might be the case, but nonetheless, I appreciate the input! I know that a lot of people use the same products you mentioned for succulents. Looks like I will have some reading to do over the weekend.